Granted, the graphic below comes from National Pen, who has a vested interest in making sure you actually put pen to paper and take physical notes, but the information within is still useful. In addition to pointing out that some of the benefits of typing are that it’s faster and more convenient, but writing improves memory recall and encourages critical thinking. Luckily, there are ways to have your cake and eat it too, like using a stylus to write on a tablet, or scanning your paper notes for easy reference in a service like Evernote.

Either way, check out the graphic below for a little more on the topic, some suggestions for the best ways to take notes (including using multiple colors and mind mapping), and their thoughts on what your choice of pen says about you personally (a far less scientific perspective, I’ll add.)